Jericho by numbers

Recently released information from the 2001 census allows us to build up one of the most detailed pictures yet of the population of Jericho. The area is bounded to the north by Juxon Street, to the south by Worcester College, to the east by Walton Street and to the west by the canal. In this area there are 1,051 households, and a total population of 2,397, which includes around 300 students at Worcester and Ruskin colleges. • Owning and renting – Around two-thirds of residents live in houses, with the rest in flats. But relatively few people in Jericho own their property. In Oxford 55% of people live in owner-occupied properties, but in Jericho only 25% do so. Instead, many more people rent their homes: 57% from private landlords and 18% from ‘social’ landlords mostly the City Council. • On the move – Jericho’s population has quite a high turnover. While in 57% of cases the whole household had lived at the same address during the previous year, in 16% of households at least one person had lived elsewhere, and in 27% the whole household had arrived in that year. • Showing our age – At the time of the census there were 15 children under one year and 16 residents over 90 years. However, compared with Oxford as a whole, Jericho has more adults in the 20-29 age group – 36%, compared with 25% in Oxford. • Carless – Only 49% of households have a car compared with 67% for Oxford. • Living alone – Almost half our households – 46% – consist of only one person, 29% consist of couples with or without children, 6% are student households, and 13% are other multi-person households, while 6% are single-parent households. • Where from? – Jericho is somewhat more cosmopolitan than Oxford as a whole, 81% of whose residents were born in the UK. In Jericho 77% of people were born in the UK, while 7% came from other countries in Europe, 6% from Asia, and 5% from North America, 2% from Africa and the rest from elsewhere. In terms of ethnic groups, 90% of people described themselves as white, 3.1% as mixed, 2.9% as Asian, 0.7% as black and 3% as Chinese or of another ethnic group. • Religion – Some 50% of Jericho residents said they were Christian, 2.2% Muslim, 1.9% Buddhist and 1.2% professed other religions, while 34% of people said they had no religion. In Oxford as a whole the proportion with no religion was 24%. • Hard at work – In Jericho 28% of those working are self-employed, while 18% work part time. Around 20% are in higher professional occupations compared with 14% for Oxford. We also tend to work nearby: 72% of people work within five kilometres of their home; 18% go to work on foot, 13% by car and 6% by bike. • Health – Around 18% of people in Jericho have a limiting long-term illness and around 10% of people provide unpaid care to another household member. Thanks to Graham Hipwell for gathering this information, as part of our presentation to the planning inquiry.